Access road to the village of Guarda

Image: Hamsterkiste

• Exploration activities

1 - “High up in the mountains, far from here, there lives a little boy just like you.” This is how a story begins that many children in Switzerland know. The children’s book was written by Selina Chönz, with illustrations by Alois Carigiet. First published in 1945, it is still one of Switzerland’s best-known children’s books.2 - The story is about a boy named Ursli, who is given only a little bell for the Chalandamarz parade. The other children tease him. Then Ursli remembers the big cowbell hanging in a hut on a snow-covered alpine meadow far from the village. He sets off on the dangerous journey through the deep snow to the hut. His parents are very worried, and that evening the whole village searches for him. But Ursli has safely reached the hut. The next morning, the boy returns. Now he has the biggest bell and gets to lead the parade.

3 - Chalandamarz is a festival celebrated every year in some villages in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. It takes place on 1 March, or shortly before or after. During Chalandamarz, children walk through the villages with cowbells, bells and other little bells, crack whips and sing. They ask for sweets or money. The customs vary from village to village. In Ftan, for example, people also wear masks; in other villages, a straw man is burned as a symbol of winter. The day usually ends with a meal and dancing together.4 - The story of Schellen-Ursli originated in Guarda, a village in the Lower Engadine. One of the village’s houses served as the model for artist Alois Carigiet’s depiction of little Ursli’s family home. Lower Engadine houses are known for their thick walls, decorated with paintings and sgraffito. Their small windows and ornate wooden doors are still typical features today.5 - Romansh is still widely spoken in the canton of Graubünden. Alongside German and Italian, it is an official language in the canton. In Switzerland, it is the fourth national language, alongside German, French and Italian.

Chalandamarz in Guarda, Lower Engadine

Image: Claudio Schneider (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Many houses in Guarda are decorated with sgraffito

Image: Hamsterkiste

Romansh inscription on a house renovated in 1998 in Guarda

Image: Hamsterkiste

A special seating area in Guarda

Image: Hamsterkiste

Surroundings of the village of Guarda in the Engadin

Image: Hamsterkiste

The River Inn flows through the valley below Guarda

Image: Hamsterkiste